


The Most Expensive Date

by ringelchen



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Age Difference, Banter, Charity Auctions, Cinnamon Roll Scorpius Malfoy, Confessions, Cross-Generation Relationship, Explicit Sexual Content, First Dates, First Kiss, Flirting, Fluff, Getting Together, HP Cross Gen Fest 2020, Happy Ending, Humor, M/M, Oblivious Harry Potter, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:35:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24894766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ringelchen/pseuds/ringelchen
Summary: Harry just wanted a quiet evening at home, instead he is being auctioned off at a charity event like a piece of meat. Prepared to have a terrible night, Harry is incredibly relieved when the highest bidder turns out to be none other than Scorpius Malfoy—a nice boy who couldn’t possibly have an ulterior motive... right?
Relationships: Scorpius Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 20
Kudos: 131
Collections: HP Cross Gen Fest 2020





	The Most Expensive Date

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nerdherderette](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdherderette/gifts).



> Thanks to nerdherderette for the fun prompt and thanks to my wonderful friends for helping me with this fic!

“I know I’m repeating myself,” Harry said as he looked in the mirror, fixing his tie, but his eyes were on the reflection of the person standing behind him, “but I just want to make sure you know that you are _the_ most horrible friend!”

Hermione didn’t even react this time, just rolling her eyes before she came closer, batting his hands away and redoing the knot of his tie. “Remember. This is for charity.”

“I give to charity all the time. I gave them almost all of my parent’s inheritance. But _this_ ,” he gestured up and down his suit-clad body wildly, “is unnecessary and frankly makes me question your morals.”

“Oh please, don’t be so dramatic, Harry.” Hermione sighed. “It’s not like we’re auctioning off your body. All bidders know that they are only bidding on an evening at a restaurant with you. We told them that whatever happens afterwards is totally up to their performance and your willingness to go further.”

Shocked, Harry wasn’t sure he’d heard that right, so he spat, “ _What_?”

This time he caught his friend looking almost guilty for a second before she quickly caught herself and argued, “No promises were made, Harry. But you cannot deny the fact that Sex Sells.”

“You insinuated that I will sleep with them if I like them?” His voice was a scandalised whisper only. He hadn’t known this part of the deal. “I can’t believe it. You sold me off to those hyenas!”

Sighing again, Hermione dropped her hands and walked away from him towards the table where Ron was eating a sandwich. “Honestly, Harry, you’re overreacting. I’ve done this before, remember?” Hermione reminded him. “The gentleman who won the evening with me only sat and talked with me, he didn’t make any advances. It was a nice date.”

“Just because you were lucky, doesn’t mean that I will be. You know how crazy my fans are. Need I remind you of the tampon incident of last summer?” Harry cussed at her, opening the first two buttons of his shirt and ripping at the tie again as he was getting very hot from feeling angry at his friend as well as being reminded of one of the most traumatising events of his life—and he’d had a lot of those! “I couldn’t get the smell out of my house for days! Since then I haven’t been able to look at women the same, Hermione!”

“Not like you were that interested in them to begin with,” he heard Hermione murmur under her breath and Ron chuckle like a little kid.

“Haha, Harry is gay, very funny!” He joked sarcastically, at the same time feeling the very strong urge to just walk out on them for this one. It’d been years since his divorce from Ginny and his very late coming-out. Sure, his friends had accepted his sexuality immediately, but he still had to deal with comments like that from time to time. It wasn’t like they meant any harm and usually he would have just looked past it but right now his friends should be reassuring him and not agitating him even more. 

Hermione must have noticed how upset Harry was getting when she held her hands up in apology. “Listen. I get it, Harry. You’ve had some upsetting experiences with fans. But here is the thing: when was the last time you went on a date?"

Having a slight idea where Hermione was trying to go with this, Harry averted his eyes. "A year ago or something."

"Right. And you know better than anybody that you hate being alone. You told us numerous times that you actually _want_ to get out there. You _want_ to find a new relationship and be with another person!"

Harry couldn't help but snort. "So you are saying that you're doing this _for me_? Your only goal here is to help me get my life back together and not to get a huge chunk of money for your Free-Magical-Creatures charity?"

Hermione held her chin up when she said very diplomatically, "I don't see why it can't be both."

Of course. Hermione always won their arguments.

She sighed again before she stepped closer to Harry, understanding in her eyes. "Harry, this is two hours of your time. Take the person out for dinner. Have a nice chat. Say goodbye and go home. And if you're lucky, something good might come out of it!”

“You say it like it’s that easy.” Plopping down on the chair next to Hermione he looked up at her in desperation. “What if they drug me with aphrodisiac? Stun me in an attempt to kidnap me? Fondle my bits under the table at the restaurant while I'm trying to eat soup?”

“None of that will happen, Harry!”

“All of this _has_ happened to me!”

“Well then there is a very small chance that it will happen again.” Hermione touched her forehead with a hand, seeming tired of the conversation. “You really need to stop being so paranoid. For your own sake.”

In the end, Harry knew that Hermione was right and nothing bad would come out of it. _Probably_. Still, he was sick of being treated like a piece of meat. Also, today was one of his very rare Saturday nights off. He’d made plans to sit at home with a beer, watch some stupid Muggle TV show and then fall asleep on the sofa. Instead, thanks to his friend, he would have to go on a date with a stranger and it would most likely be someone he’d usually try to keep away from at all costs.

“I just wanted a quiet evening at home, Hermione.” Harry finally admitted in a whisper and for the first time he knew that she understood where he was coming from. His job as Head Auror was demanding to say the least. He barely ever saw his friends or family these days. And as Minister of Magic, she related better to that than anything else. She was biting her nails now, looking at the clock and obviously considering if there was a way to get him out of this even though the auction was scheduled to happen in less than 10 minutes. He could see her starting to sweat, her forehead wrinkling in a way that made him worry about her.

With a sigh, Harry gave up. “It’s fine. I’ll do it. But it’s only going to be appetisers and main course. No dessert! And you will call every 30 minutes to check up on me. If I don’t pick up, send out help to find me!”

“Are you sure?” Hermione asked in a worried voice, “I can try to auction off Ron. He won’t get even half as much as you, especially now that he’s gained so much weight, but I figure we can pay the other half out of our pockets.”

“Hey!” Ron shouted after having bitten into his sandwich, “you said you liked my tummy!”

Hermione ignored her husband’s cries and put her hands on Harry’s shoulders. “I’m sorry. I promise you, this is the last time. Next time I want to set you up, I will go about it differently.”

Exhausted, Harry nodded, putting his hand on Hermione’s. “I’ll hold you to that promise.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


Harry stood behind the stage nervously, listening to the next to last item being auctioned off for 2,000 Galleons—the very last one being himself. Today's attendees seemed very generous so Harry was sure that they would pay good money for a date with him. However, that didn't stop him from hating every second of this.

Someone from the staff nudged him on the shoulder then, sending him to stand towards the edge of the stage when Blaise Zabini, that smug fucker, started to announce him.

“Ladies and Gentleman, may I ask for your attention as we call today’s hot item you have all been waiting for to the stage: The one and only Harry Potter!” Zabini shouted into the microphone, as if they were on a turkish basar, and the room full of people dressed in neat tuxes and ballroom dresses lost their shit.

Oh boy.

Harry walked onto the stage while grown-ass people whistled and shouted that they wanted his babies, that his arse looked hot in those pants. Very sure that most of them must be absolutely hammered, he stood next to Blaise and wondered how he was going to survive a date with one of these lunatics. 

From here, he could barely see the other guests with all the lights directed at him. As always when he was on a stage in front of an audience, Harry felt his knees grow weak. He would never grow used to this kind of situation and just wished it would be over soon.

“Please, settle down and be quiet so we can start with the auction. Before we do that however I have been asked to make very clear that Mr Potter here will only be having dinner with the lucky bidder who’ll win this auction. There will be no footsies under the table, hand holding above it,” Blaise stopped to look at the paper he had in his hands with special requests that Hermione had given him to read out loud, “and, to make one thing _very_ clear, Mr Potter will not be engaging in sexual intercourse with the bidder.”

Harry almost dropped to the floor in sheer terror that Blaise would actually read that out loud. However, he could hear disappointed moans from the audience and feared that it had definitely been necessary to be bold like this.

“Right after the auction is over, there will be an opportunity for you to hug Mr Potter and take a commodetary picture with him however, so you have that to look forward to,” Blaise added with a wink and a half-smirk on his face and then put the paper back into his pocket. “Well, now that that is taken care of. The auction starts at 1,000 Galleons!”

Immediately, the first person held up their sign and shouted “20,000 Galleons!”, making the crowd as well as Harry gasp. Unbelievably, though, the bidding war went crazy from there. Almost every second person in the hall made a bid at one point or another. Harry could have sworn he saw some people throwing punches in the crowd or pulling down bidding signs of other attendees. Finally, after twenty minutes, the crowd was tired and only a few people were left to bid on him.

“72,000, anybody? 72,000 for a hot date with Harry Potter? Yes!” Blaise shouted in glee after another hand of an old woman in the back row went up, “73,000?” The former bidder stretched out her hand again and it went on like that for a while, just the two of them outbidding each other.

Harry tried his best to look at them from where he was standing, still blinded by too many spotlights directed at his sweaty body. The old woman looked rather harmless, she seemed like the kind of lady he would help walk over the street. A date with her surely wouldn’t be too unpleasant. She’d probably go on and on about her grandchildren or her cats, or both. The other woman, however, was in her late 40s or early 50s, Harry guessed, and she had that crazy look on her face that reminded Harry of various rather unsettling encounters he’d made with insane fans.

Begging the lords for the old lady to win the bid, Harry’s heart sank into his stomach when suddenly she pulled down her sign, apparently having given up on him.

“88,000 Galleons for the lady in purple once.” Harry felt like throwing up. “Twice-”

“100,000 Galleons!” A very familiar voice suddenly shouted from the very front of the stage and Harry looked down in shock to stare into the face of his angel. Scorpius Malfoy.

For a second there, Harry wanted to kiss the boy.

“Oh wow, 100,000, not sure anybody can outbid that. Care to prove me otherwise? 100,000 once, twice and,” Harry saw Scorpius face almost explode with happiness when Blaise announced, “And the date with Harry Potter goes to Scorpius Malfoy for 100,000 Galleons! Congratulations!”

The crowd clapped, though some of them less enthusiastically than others, as they were sad they hadn’t won Harry for the evening.

“Mr Malfoy, please come to the next room so you can accept your prize,” Blaise announced into the microphone before he giggled and then led Harry off the stage.

“Lucky you,” the man whispered to him as they walked backstage and made their way next door, “that woman looked like her plan was to keep you chained to her bed for the rest of her life.”

“You laugh,” Harry started and looked at Blaise seriously, “but I have had people try to do that to me before. It wasn’t as fun as it sounds, let me tell you.” 

“So not into bondage, I see,” Blaise replied with that stupid grin again and Harry rolled his eyes. Had he been in any other situation, he would have probably been annoyed at that comment but right now he just felt terribly lucky. His evening was saved. 

When they entered the next room, Harry saw Scorpius already waiting for him on the other side of the counter. Harry couldn’t help but beam at the boy—his personal saviour of the day—who showed him a gentle smile just like he always did.

Scorpius Malfoy was his son’s best friend so they knew each other well—well enough that Harry could say with absolute confidence that he was a good boy and would surely not try to harm him.

“Good evening, Harry,” Scorpius said, and his voice sounded a little bit different than the usual excited high-pitch he always used whenever they talked to each other. It was deep and manly but almost fakely so, “May I escort you to our limousine?” He held out his arm for Harry to take and when the corner of Scorpius’ mouth twitched, breaking character, Harry couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“Oh that sounds delightful,” Harry played along and beamed as he put his hand on Scorpius’ arm.

“You two are cute,” Blaise commented before he took the check from Scorpius’ free hand and then waved over the photographer from _The Prophet_. “You’re free to go as soon as we have a picture of you two.“

“Right,” Harry remembered and then he and Scorpius were ushered to stand in front of the big Charity banner and told to smile at the camera. Automatically, Harry put his arm around Scorpius’ waist, putting on a smile that, for a change, wasn’t fake because with Scorpius he felt safe and definitely not uncomfortable like he would have with any other person standing next to him. Immediately, the photographer started to click away, taking one picture after the other and as Harry was smiling at the camera, he felt Scorpius stand very tense in his arms. 

He turned his face to look at the boy, having to glance up because Scorpius was a bit taller than him. Harry was surprised to find Scorpius looking down at him with a nervous smile.

“Everything alright?” Harry asked, tightening his grip on Scorpius’ waist a bit protectively. The Malfoy boy had always been a bit on the nervous side so Harry wanted to make sure he didn’t feel uncomfortable. “You’re not used to cameras, are you?”

“I tend to look really weird in pictures. It’s making me feel a bit self-conscious.”

Holding eye contact to distract him from the cameras, Harry said softly, “Don’t worry, I can say from experience that everybody will only look at me anyway. You could literally be wearing a bikini and still _The Prophet_ will only write about my ‘wild jungle-green eyes’.” Scorpius chuckled when Harry added,” That’s a direct quote from last week’s front-page article about my grocery shopping habits.”

Scorpius laughed and then suddenly pulled his arm from between the two of them and slung it around Harry’s shoulders, holding him closer to his body. “You can’t blame people for wanting to look at something beautiful, Harry.”

At that statement, Harry looked a bit dazed but didn’t reply. He wondered where that had suddenly come from when finally the camera stopped flashing and Blaise said that they were free to go.

Scorpius let go of him, again holding out his arm to Harry and talking in that fake posh voice that made him sound a little like his dad. He asked if Harry was ready to be swept off his feet, and nodding in amusement, Harry took his arm.

And so they went on their date.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Everybody was staring at Harry in either disgust or shock as he let out a loud burp after throwing back the contents of his first glass of champagne. Scorpius, on the other side of the table, hid his amusement behind his own glass before he too, emptied it in one big gulp.

“First of all, let me say this. Thank. You!” Harry gestured for the penguin-look-alike waiter to get them both another drink. “You saved my night. I cannot tell you how brutal having a date with a fan can be. They all seem charming at first but,” He made a cuckoo sign at his head, “they can’t hide the crazy for long.”

Scorpius giggled again, this time holding a hand in front of his mouth.

“It’s my pleasure, really. I just saw you up there, horrified at the prospect of being forced to go on a date with that lady, so I made a bid. Not like I can’t afford it,” Scorpius said. Coming out of his mouth it didn’t sound like a brag, however. Scorpius Malfoy, at first also unbelievable to Harry himself, was one of the kindest and honest people Harry knew. How Draco Malfoy had managed to have a child like him was something Harry was never going to understand. It pained him to admit but as Harry had gotten to know Scorpius over the years, he’d made the horrible realisation that Draco must be the best father in the world to have a son like him. So pure and full of love. 

“So I’m guessing that means your business is going well?” Harry asked, sincerely interested. After school, Scorpius had started his own company as a magical event planner. At first a lot of people had been rather surprised by the young boy’s choice of career, seeing that Malfoys usually went into politics or, well, gambled with dark artefacts, but Scorpius had gone a wholly different direction. Harry himself had commissioned his services many times for different Weasley or Auror related events and each one had been a success.

“Yes, you could say that. A lot of it is thanks to your recommendations, of course. No better advertising than Harry Potter himself recommending my company’s services.” Scorpius said with a smile on his face and then the waiter came and put down two more glasses of champagne for them.

“Are you ready to order, gentleman?”

Harry and Scorpius left their order with the waiter before they started doing some small talk. All the while Harry could feel everybody around them watching their table. Obviously, besides their picture, tomorrow’s _Prophet_ would be full of completely made-up stories about the two of them. It didn’t matter that everybody knew that this date had only been initiated due to the charity auction, it would be the most interesting gossip surrounding Harry that they’d been able to get on him in years, since his divorce from Ginny, to be exact. So even though Harry expected the worst, it wasn’t going to stop him from enjoying this date.

Harry _loved_ Scorpius. Not in a way that the article would undoubtedly claim, but there was honestly no other person on the planet that Harry would have rather gone on this date with if he thought about it. Recently they’d been spending a lot of time together. At first only because Harry kept booking his company, so they had to discuss a lot of work-related issues, but then they'd noticed how well they got along and they’d even started to drink together occasionally, have dinner at his place or lunch when Scorpius surprised him at the office and forced him to take a break after days of working overtime. And though Harry had found the surprise visits a bit pushy at first, he’d soon started to enjoy every second they spent together. Because Scorpius was kind and funny. He cared about Harry’s health and work-life balance. He was never boring to talk to and always had interesting input on current matters as he was very well-read and well-informed—and not in that annoying way Hermione was. And Harry had to admit, it also helped that Scorpius was very easy on the eyes with him having grown up to be one stunning piece of arse.

But of course, Harry didn’t think of him like that. Even though he did notice, for the first time today, that Scorpius was really really his type. Tall, thin, fair-haired and light-skinned, a gentle soul, easily excited and also craving the small things in life like a delicious cone of ice-cream on a hot weekend or the feeling of raindrops on his face after a stressful day.

Harry thought back to his recent birthday party that Scorpius had planned. When everyone had been gone except for the two of them, they’d walked back into the garden and sat on the steps from his house, eating the rest of his ice-cream cake when it had suddenly started to rain cats and dogs. But none of them had moved, they’d just sat there and laughed at the weirdness of the moment and the refreshing feeling on their skin.

Harry really loved Scorpius. He was a great, _great_ kid.

“Is there something on my face?” Scorpius asked while they were both digging into their main course, though Harry hadn’t taken a bite in minutes, too fascinated by the movement of the tip of Scorpius’ nose as he ate and talked about his plans to visit his grandmother in France.

“No, not at all, it’s just—” Harry started and though he felt like he could be honest with Scorpius about everything because they were good friends and had known each other for ages, he felt weird being honest about this; “you are extremely handsome.”

Scorpius’ jaw dropped open a bit, signaling his obvious surprise.

“Sorry, that was a weird thing to say,” Harry realised, trying to soften the blow of what he knew must have sounded a lot like flirting.

“No, not at all. Thank you,” Scorpius finally replied after the initial shock and smiled back at Harry. His cheeks were a bit blushed. “I don’t think I have to tell you so you know that you’re a striking man, Harry.” He gestured with his fork around the room and like always, most eyes of the other guests were flicking back and forth between Harry and whatever or whoever they should be looking at.

“Actually, it’s nice to hear it from someone that means something to me rather than the random stranger on the street,” Harry confessed. Not necessarily fishing for a compliment but Scorpius put down his fork and knife anyway, tapping his mouth with the serviette.

Leaning over a bit, Scorpius got way closer than before when he whispered:“Well, then let me tell you, Harry. You are, without a doubt, the sexiest man I’ve ever encountered.”

They were both silent, Harry’s eyes fixed on Scorpius, trying to see whether he really meant that or whether he was just making a joke, but Scorpius’ expression was sincere even when he leaned back again and continued eating.

Dumbstruck, Harry felt his pulse in his throat.

Scorpius must have noticed the effect his compliment had on Harry, because after he took a bite, he looked at him again, smiling slightly at his still shocked expression.

“You’re not seeing anyone, are you, Harry?” Scorpius suddenly asked.

“No, I’m not,” he replied though he still didn’t know how to take whatever Scorpius was trying to tell him here. “Why? Are you interested?” He said with a wink and decided to joke his way out of this awkward situation.

Unexpectedly, Scorpius just said, with an honest smile on his face, “That depends. What are you offering?”

There was a purr in Scorpius’ voice now and Harry knew immediately that he wasn’t joking around at all. Scorpius Malfoy was sitting in front of him, all handsome, in one of the most expensive tuxedos Harry had ever seen, and he was flirting with him. But the most surprising fact of any of that was that it seemed to be working. Harry’s heart was beating faster and he felt his whole body getting warmer at the thought of him and Scorpius.

Was this really happening?

“Don’t worry Harry. I’m not expecting—what did Blaise call it?” Scorpius paused and looked up trying to remember, “right. ‘Sexual Intercourse’.”

Harry hiccuped, shocked and speechless that they were having this kind of discussion and it wasn’t even a joke, but Scorpius just grinned brightly and took another sip of his champagne.

Probably noticing that Harry was very overwhelmed by Scorpius flirting with him, the younger man changed the subject and engaged Harry in a conversation about Quidditch for the rest of the evening. They were done with the main course when Harry, having forgotten what had earlier passed off between them, suggested, “How about we go to my place for dessert?”

Scorpius stared at him and Harry wanted to disappear. 

He had meant pie. Sincerely. Lily had baked the day before and brought him a few pieces but now that the words were out, he knew what this had sounded like and there was no way back.

Scorpius quickly recovered from Harry’s unexpected proposition when he said, “Dessert sounds wonderful” and gestured for the check.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Scorpius was sitting on his sofa while Harry was in the kitchen preparing coffee and putting the pie on two small plates. All the while trying to figure out what kind of expectations Scorpius had.

Was it clear that Harry had meant the literal dessert when he’d offered to serve it at his home earlier at the restaurant? Or was Scorpius waiting in the living room right now, expecting Harry to return with nothing but himself to serve?

It was kind of ironic that things had turned out this way after all. He’d dreaded being put into this situation by his date, but somehow, because it was Scorpius, instead of fear he felt… excited?

Unsure of what was waiting for him next door, Harry walked back into the living room, plates in hand, coffee hovering next to him, and was kind of relieved to find Scorpius smiling at the pie when it was placed in front of him.

“Lily’s blueberry tart. My favourite.”

“She really is a great baker. Takes after Molly,” Harry laughed, trying not to let his nervousness show. They dug in, the only sound of forks scratching against plates and the soft music of the radio in the back.

Harry felt uncomfortable, an emotion he hadn’t felt since he could remember when spending time with Scorpius. He adored the young man, sometimes he enjoyed spending time with him more than with his children but obviously he wasn’t going to ever admit that to anyone. 

But it was rather weird, suddenly being reminded of how single the two of them were and that they found each other attractive. If it wasn’t for the fact that he’d watched Scorpius grow up, this would have probably been a very normal date. No, a very successful date. But with Scorpius as a 14 year-old in the back of his mind, jumping on his mattress and giggling like crazy with Albus, Harry just couldn’t think of him as more than that.

Even though Scorpius was possibly the most attractive man Harry had been on a date with in literally years.

Biting his lip, Harry had to remind himself that this really wasn’t a date. This was all for charity and Scorpius probably thought the same!

The uncomfortable quiet was broken when they both, pretty much at the same time, finished their dessert and Scorpius put down his fork with a smile. Harry smiled back, the awkward silence between them getting a little bit less so when he saw that Scorpius was still the same young man he knew him to be. Nice, understanding and obviously Harry had read this all wrong. Scorpius wasn’t interested in him in that way and had only given him such compliments because he was a nice perso-

In the speed of a heart beat, Scorpius was on top of him, one moment smiling at him, the next grabbing his face and shoving his tongue down Harry’s throat while he ground against his thigh.

Completely scandalised Harry shoved him away. “What the actual fuck?” He shouted at the boy who was breathing heavily and looking at him in wonder. “What? How? _Why_?”

“Huh?” Scorpius asked, eyes blinking, “What’s the matter?”

“ _What's the matter?_ ” Harry repeated and sprung up into a standing position. “You just kissed me and rubbed up against me! That’s the matter!”

“But,” Scorpius started, a hand now going through his slightly tousled hair, “you said I was handsome. You invited me over for dessert. That’s innuendo for sex.”

“Obviously I didn’t mean sex but pie! _Blueberry_ pie!” Harry shouted and pointed at the empty plates.

Scorpius looked at the plates and then back at Harry who was breathing heavy, waiting for his reaction, for it to click that this was all a terrible misunderstanding.

“Wait,” Scorpius suddenly said, his voice sounding less confused than before, “You’re saying I spent 100,000 Galleons for a piece of pie that, truth be told, was a bit dry?”

Harry had never seen that kind of expression on Scorpius before. He looked bewildered but also a little bit like he was about to break out in tears.

“You can’t be serious, Harry!” He whined, his squeaky voice showing itself for the first time that day, “My dad is going to kill me for spending that kind of money and you’re telling me it was all for nothing?”

“What?”

“Do you really think I make enough money to spend 100,000 Galleons on a charity? I only started my business three years ago. I haven’t even made half the money I spent today in that whole duration. Most of it will have to come out of my dad’s purse!”

“Then why did you bid on me in the first place?”

“Because it was my only chance to go on a real date with you!” Scorpius shouted and for the first time Harry noticed that he was in serious despair. “Because it doesn’t matter how often I cook dinner for you or how often we spend the evenings drinking together. Whatever I do or say, you refuse to see me as anything more than a boy. I thought that if you saw me all dressed up and were forced to go to a nice restaurant with me, you’d start to see me in a different light! Getting a scolding from my dad was definitely worth that much. But,” Scorpius swallowed, “did you even, _for a second_ , think of me as anything else but your son’s best friend?”

Yes, he had. But there was no way Harry could admit that, didn’t matter how disappointed Scorpius would be. Because as he sat there in front of him, disheveled, begging Harry to tell him otherwise, he looked like the young boy Harry had gotten to know many years ago and there was no way he could see him as anything but that… was there?

Scorpius didn’t wait for a reply. Instead he stood up, eyes averted from Harry and looking around the room nervously to find his shoes and jacket. Harry watched him scramble to put them back on as fast as he could and when he was done getting dressed, Scorpius looked at the ground and said, “Goodbye, Harry.”

He almost let him leave. 

Almost.

Without even deciding what he was going to do afterwards, Harry grabbed him by the wrist as Scorpius had been about to step into his Floo. The other man was now standing only a few steps away from him, turned away, but his head was hanging to the ground miserably.

Harry couldn’t see his face but he knew exactly what it must look like. And it broke his heart.

“I had a wonderful time with you today, Scorpius,” Harry whispered, truthfully.

“Yeah,” Scorpius said quietly before he turned around and looked at Harry as if he had no hope left for the two of them, “me too.”

“I mean it. I don’t go on many dates but as far as they go, I don’t think I’ve ever had more fun than I had with you today.” Harry thought back to his last few romantic encounters that had all been rather boring if he was being honest. Given the circumstances, he had a hard time trusting people so whenever he was on a date he felt like he had to be cautious all the time and couldn’t enjoy the part of flirting and getting to know the other person like a regular bloke could. But with Scorpius everything was different. They always had fun together, especially this evening when they’d flirted and made each other feel good with small compliments. “It was perfect. Really.”

His grip on Scorpius’ wrist grew more firm and as he looked at the man, he saw a shimmer of hope appear in his eyes again.

“Harry?” Scorpius asked quietly, his upper body turning slightly towards him. “If I try to kiss you this time, will you pull away again?”

Harry had to swallow hard when he realised what he was doing. “I don’t know.” He was going to let this happen, wasn’t he?

“Can I try?” Scorpius asked, pulling his hand out of Harry’s grasp when he saw the older man nod at his question.

Harry didn’t know what he was thinking, how he could consider even for a moment that this between them could happen, that it was appropriate. But Scorpius’ hands were on his neck again, this time having slowly approached him, his thumbs stroking his cheek. Scorpius looked at him intensely, and shortly before their lips touched, Harry flinched back. Scorpius stopped immediately, breathing against him slowly but keeping eye contact.

“What are you thinking right now?” he asked Harry who had started to think a lot of things from _I am too old, He is too young, He’s Draco’s son_ to _He’s Albus’ best friend_ , but when he heard Scorpius’ low voice, feeling his fingers stroke him softly, all he could really think was:

“You’re beautiful. And I want to kiss you so bad.”

“Then why aren’t we doing that right now?” There was desperation in his eyes when Scorpius explained, “because you can believe me when I say that I’ve literally wanted to do this since the summer hols years ago when I walked in on you in the shower.”

Disbelieving how oblivious he’d been to the boy’s feelings, Harry sucked in a shaky breath, grasping for Scorpius’ hips, pulling him closer unconsciously. 

“Harry,” Scorpius said and now their foreheads were touching and they were both shivering against each other in anticipation. “Let me love you.”

Without another doubt in his mind, Harry closed the distance between them and when their mouth smacked together this time, neither of them pulled away. 

There was a rush of want and need running through Harry that he hadn’t felt in decades, from the tips of his toes to the split ends of his hair. Scorpius’ hands were everywhere, on his neck, running down his back, squeezing his arse through his pants. Quickly, kissing turned into frotting and then Scorpius pushed Harry onto the sofa and sat on his lap, grinding against him so hot and delicious, all Harry could do not to come in his pants like a fucking teenager was pull his face away from Scorpius and hold onto him by the shoulders.

Scorpius stopped moving his hips, his hands about to open Harry’s fly before he checked his face for permission. When Harry nodded, he went on to pull both of their hard cocks out and jerk them off together. Scorpius’ hand was moving up and down skillfully while they kissed in passion. Harry’s hands roamed up Scorpius’ shirt to pinch his nipples, feel his skin and pull him closer by the side.

Harry was pretty close already but he knew he needed more. Coming just once wouldn’t do, especially not with the realisation hitting him that they could have been doing this all this time. When Harry thought back, Scorpius had been trying to flirt and approach him for years. They’d spent more time together than Harry had with anyone that wasn’t family. They’d shared thoughts and secrets. They’d sat together many nights, drinking wine and talking about everything and anything. Sometimes, Harry had even come home from work to find Scorpius in his kitchen, preparing dinner—because of course Harry had changed his Floo security wards so that he could enter anytime he wanted. And like an idiot, Harry had thought they were _just friends_ all this time, when, really, all of their nights together could have ended like this, with Scorpius on his lap, quivering at his touch, seemingly falling apart at the intimacy that just a look between them revealed.

Technically, they had been dating all this time, hadn’t they? All that had really been missing between them was _this_.

Between moans, Harry heard Scorpius conjure some lube onto their cocks. He fisted them faster, twitching slightly when he found Harry staring at him with parted lips.

“I fucking love you, Scorp,” Harry said the second he realised it himself and when Scorpius suddenly sobbed instead of moaned, he knew that this was what the boy had been waiting to hear for years.

“Me too, Harry. So so much.”

And then they were kissing again, but finally with the knowledge that this was more than just a one-off, more than a thing that Harry could possibly regret the next morning. It felt long overdue.

With only a few more strokes of their cocks, they came, almost simultaneously, with each other’s names on their lips and so much love in their hearts.

They were breathing heavily, exchanging small and slow kisses while taking long minutes to calm down from their orgasms. Scorpius moved his head to kiss down Harry’s neck but then started chuckling against his shoulder. “This is definitely worth my dad ripping me a new one for spending all his money.”

“If you could not talk about Draco right now, I would very much appreciate that,” Harry said seriously, making Scorpius look a bit sheepish as he pulled his head up and smiled at Harry. “But in regards to ripping you a new one; I would be interested in doing that.”

Scorpius frowned, a questioning look on his face as his hands continued to stroke Harry’s neck.

“I mean anal sex. I would like to do that with you. Tonight if you can go for another round.”

“Oh,” Scorpius said loudly and then looked a bit disturbed, “You’re really bad at flirting. No wonder I misunderstood you the first time. ‘Ripping me a new one’. That’s a horrible way to put it, Harry.”

A little annoyed and embarrassed at how right Scorpius probably was, Harry said, “so is that a no?”

“It’s a yes,” Scorpius replied and then leaned forward to whisper into Harry’s ear teasingly, “But I thought you wouldn’t be engaging in any sexual intercourse tonight?”

With a chuckle, Harry realised, “I guess it all turned out a little different than expected.”

And for that, he’d have to remember to thank Hermione.

**Author's Note:**

> This work is part of the 2020 Harry Potter Cross Gen Fest. The author will be revealed at the end of August.


End file.
